BlackLabelJetsFan
11-28-2005, 05:05 PM
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/28/SPG00FV99A3.DTL
A's sign Loaiza as free agent -- possible prelude to Zito trade
Susan Slusser, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, November 28, 2005
In a move that could signal the end to Barry Zito's career in Oakland, the A's signed starter Esteban Loaiza to a three-year deal worth roughly $20 million, with a club option for a fourth year, on Monday. The official announcement is expected early this afternoon, with a press conference later in the day.
Loaiza, who will be 34 at the end of December, was 12-10 with a 3.77 ERA with Washington in 2005. In his 11-year career, he is 112-99 with a 4.60 ERA, and the A's will be his seventh team. His best season was in 2003, when he was 21-9 with a 2.90 ERA with the White Sox, started the All-Star Game at Chicago and finished second in the Cy Young voting.
With the addition of Loazia, the A's have six major-league caliber starters, and Zito will be a free agent at the end of the 2006 season, the same position Tim Hudson was in last winter when he was dealt to Atlanta. And when baseball's winter meetings get under way in Dallas next week, many high-profile teams will be looking for a top-flight starter such as Zito, while Oakland has a very specific need: a right-handed hitter with power.
The A's preference is generally to acquire younger players they can lock up for several years, and some teams that need starting pitching have some strong young hitters, most notably Mets prospect Lastings Milledge, Arizona's Conor Jackson and Carlos Quentin and Tampa Bay's Jonny Gomes.
A's sign Loaiza as free agent -- possible prelude to Zito trade
Susan Slusser, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, November 28, 2005
In a move that could signal the end to Barry Zito's career in Oakland, the A's signed starter Esteban Loaiza to a three-year deal worth roughly $20 million, with a club option for a fourth year, on Monday. The official announcement is expected early this afternoon, with a press conference later in the day.
Loaiza, who will be 34 at the end of December, was 12-10 with a 3.77 ERA with Washington in 2005. In his 11-year career, he is 112-99 with a 4.60 ERA, and the A's will be his seventh team. His best season was in 2003, when he was 21-9 with a 2.90 ERA with the White Sox, started the All-Star Game at Chicago and finished second in the Cy Young voting.
With the addition of Loazia, the A's have six major-league caliber starters, and Zito will be a free agent at the end of the 2006 season, the same position Tim Hudson was in last winter when he was dealt to Atlanta. And when baseball's winter meetings get under way in Dallas next week, many high-profile teams will be looking for a top-flight starter such as Zito, while Oakland has a very specific need: a right-handed hitter with power.
The A's preference is generally to acquire younger players they can lock up for several years, and some teams that need starting pitching have some strong young hitters, most notably Mets prospect Lastings Milledge, Arizona's Conor Jackson and Carlos Quentin and Tampa Bay's Jonny Gomes.